Terence Crawford vs. WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov’s undercard, which was revealed today for their August 3rd card in Las Vegas, features several excellent fights. Fans on social media are really pleased with the undercard, viewing it as top-notch.
Salvador Rodriguez revealed that Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) will be defending his WBA light welterweight title against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs). Rodriguez didn’t say, but this fight could be the co-feature bout on the card.
‘Pitbull’ Cruz Unleashed in Title Defense
Cruz will defend his WBA title, which he captured against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero last March. Pitbull Cruz vs. Rayo is the gem of this card thus far.
The lightweight contender Rayo will get a title shot over the top 15 contenders in the WBA’s rankings at 140, which probably won’t make them too happy being passed over.
In another interesting fight, former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz will fight on the undercard against Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. It’s hard to pick a winner between these two becaue because both guys have been inactive, and they’re in their mid-30s now and not young.
Ruiz (35-2, 22 KOs) is making one of his rare appearances, hoping to get a big win that will qualify him for a lucrative trilogy match against Anthony Joshua or a title shot against the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight.
- Isaac Cruz vs Jose Valenzuela
- Andy Ruiz vs Jarrell Miller
- Leo Santa Cruz vs Abner Mares III
Former four-division world champion Leo Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) will face former four-division champ Abner Mares (31-3-2, 15 KOs) in a trilogy match. Mares, 38, has fought just once in the last six years since 2018 and hasn’t fought since 2022.
Given Mares’ history of eye problems, this fight doesn’t figure to last too long before he’s pulled out to keep him from suffering further injury.
The 35-year-old Leo Santa Cruz has been inactive for two years as well, and it’ll be interesting to see what he’s got.
Crawford’s fight with WBA champion Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) will also have the WBO interim 154-lb title on the line. The winner of the fight will face WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora. That fight will take place no later than December 31st.